Invisible Citiestag:typepad.com,2003:weblog-3235602008-06-13T09:59:56-04:00rendering history 2.0 TypePadThe Fringe Benefits of Failure, and the Importance of Imagination — The Harvard University Gazettetag:typepad.com,2003:post-512971762008-06-13T09:59:56-04:002008-06-13T09:59:56-04:00Worth reading. The Fringe Benefits of Failure, and the Importance of Imagination — The Harvard University Gazette.tristero

THATCamp & Museumstag:typepad.com,2003:post-507909562008-06-03T21:59:04-04:002008-06-03T21:59:04-04:00I loved T. Mills Kelly's thoughts on Edwired about the museum taking in digital objects of individual collectors into its collections. It generated so many strange images in my mind, including whether the relationship between a donor of a digital...tristero
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<p class="MsoNormal">I loved T. Mills Kelly's thoughts on <a href="http://edwired.org/?p=307">Edwired</a> about the museum taking in digital
objects of individual collectors into its collections. It generated so many
strange images in my mind, including whether the relationship between a donor
of a digital object and the museum would be exclusive. Mostly, though, I am
struck by the continued fetishization of the object in museums, as we discussed
at THATCamp. There is a kind of sacrilization of the &quot;real&quot; going on
in response to digital history. In some respects, this same sort of concern is
being expressed about landscapes as well. I am not sure that I disagree that
the physical universe--the artifact or landscape--are important. And, I think
the comments (<a href="http://allthatissolid.wordpress.com/">by Jeff K of All that is Solid</a>) are right on about that--notably that we have not quite figure
out how to render digital objects. But, I am not sure that we've done that
completely well with print items either. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Indeed, I am not sure that casting it is an either/or
proposition as so many museums continue to do is quite right. For example,
digital objects are different manifestations of the object, just as photographs
are. They are part of its descriptive
universe, not the entire universe. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Also, overstating the sacred qualities of the object
reinforces extant power relationships, between big and small institutions. The
digital universe—especially with the increasing availability of open-source,
free tools like Omeka—offers a way to break down the distinctions between
large/small and well-funded/modestly resourced institutions by creating a more
even playing field in terms of digital representation.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p>Many of the same the same challenges that face museums in
terms of digitization are also faced in studying three-dimensional landscapes,
which many argue need to be experienced in order to be truly understood. But, I
think that we can curate cities, much like we curate objects. Digital history
can contribute to the process of reshaping landscape history--which has
happened with our <a href="http://www.culturalgardens.org/">Cultural Gardens website</a>. We've
had thousands of visitors in the past year--probably more than the actual
site--from over 70 countries, countless queries, contributions, and newly
created links/conversations about the Gardens. None of that has happened in
over twenty years, except among a small group of Clevelanders. We have not been
able to keep up. My sense is that this has happened for lots of our colleagues
studying landscape but also using the web creatively in museum contexts.<o:p></o:p>
</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I am not sure, though, that libraries/archives are out front
in really digitizing objects, nor are their digital dilemmas really much different
than those faced by museums. Books, paper, maps and so forth *are*
three-dimensional objects in the same way that artifacts are. Both begged to be
handled and touched. For example, when we digitize Sanborn maps we lose a sense
of when/if they included &quot;pasteovers&quot;--those little features added
(by literally gluing new building details on top of the original map) later
that are visible because they are slightly raised. Likewise, even with photos
and pages, physical details can be critical. Either we have forgotten this
aspect of paper or over-stated the differences between books/paper and
artifacts.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Finally, I am not sure that I agree completely with Jeff’s
solution that large institutions help small institutions with digitizing and
cataloguing their collections. I work with lots of small institutions that fear
being subsumed by the catalogues of large institutions. They want to retain
their autonomy and often cannot afford the expensive cataloguing systems and/or
procedures taken by large institutions (which frequently cannot keep up with
their own catalogs.) </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I like the sentiment, though. But, it seems to me that more
productive and helpful collaborations could be created by sharing preservation
resources, storage, and exhibition space (both way more expensive than digital
resource development). And, in fact, the large institutions might themselves
need to get out of their reliance on expensive/inaccessible archival systems
and adapt something more interactive—that dangerous “tagging” that our students
prefer to serious metadata.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Great conversation at THATCamp.</p>
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American Social History Onlinetag:typepad.com,2003:post-506958862008-06-01T21:06:33-04:002008-06-01T21:06:33-04:00I love this photo, which I found on American Social History Online. I was searching for images of suburbs, homes, and families, between 1945 and 1970. It captures the sentiment of the moment, evoking the nuclear family of that age....tristero

I was searching for images of suburbs, homes, and families, between 1945 and 1970. It captures the sentiment of the moment, evoking the nuclear family of that age. I learned much more about American Social History Online while participating in THATCamp at the Center for History and New Media.

It comes from the Charles W. Cushman Photograph Collection at the University of Indiana Archives: http://webapp1.dlib.indiana.edu/cushman/results/detail.do?pnum=P10954

Cleveland: How Questionable Loans Created a Cleveland Slum | Newsweek Business | Newsweek.comtag:typepad.com,2003:post-504757242008-05-27T16:37:52-04:002008-05-27T16:37:52-04:00Check it out. Cleveland's Slavic Village makes the news as an example of neighborhood blighted by the subprime mess: How Questionable Loans Created a Cleveland Slum | Newsweek Business | Newsweek.com.tristero

How Epidemics Helped Shape the Modern Metropolistag:typepad.com,2003:post-487104242008-04-19T21:00:29-04:002008-04-19T21:00:29-04:00Disease shaped cities in many subtle and not so subtle ways, from water systems to public health institutions. Cholera Epidemic in New York City in 1832 - New York Times. Curiously, though, attitudes about the sick--marginalizing them and blaming them--appear...tristero
<div xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p>Disease shaped cities in many subtle and not so subtle ways, from water systems to public health institutions.&nbsp; <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/15/science/15chol.html?ref=science" title="Cholera Epidemic in New York City in 1832 - New York Times">Cholera Epidemic in New York City in 1832 - New York Times</a>. Curiously, though, attitudes about the sick--marginalizing them and blaming them--appear to have been based in preexisting societal norms. They demonstrate how those at the margins of society have been blamed for the sickness in different times and places.&nbsp; To wit, quoted from the article linked above: </p>
<p>&quot;Unlike most upper-class residents, John Pintard, the respected civic
leader who was the historical society’s founder, remained in the
stricken city. His letters to one of his daughters are included in the
exhibition.</p>
<p>The epidemic, he wrote in an attitude typical of his
peers, “is almost exclusively confined to the lower classes of
intemperate dissolute &amp; filthy people huddled together like swine
in their polluted habitations.”</p>
<p>In another letter, his judgment
was even harsher. “Those sickened must be cured or die off, &amp; being
chiefly of the very scum of the city, the quicker [their] dispatch the
sooner the malady will cease.”</p>
<p>Dr. David D. Ho, a biomedical scientist at Rockefeller University, noted the similarities between the views on cholera and the initial
reaction to a more recent epidemic that took science by surprise: AIDS.</p>
<p>When the first AIDS cases were reported in 1981, the victims were almost all white gay men. They were treated as outcasts.&quot;</p>
<p>For a slideshow of primary documents, see: <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2008/04/15/science/20080415_CHOLERA_SLIDESHOW_index.html">http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2008/04/15/science/20080415_CHOLERA_SLIDESHOW_index.html</a></p></div>
race and politicstag:typepad.com,2003:post-479230222008-04-03T13:08:47-04:002008-04-03T13:08:47-04:00Review: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M70emIFxETs read: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/11/opinion/11patterson.html?_r=1&oref=slogin and then review the ad again. What do you think?tristero

UCI Contacts & Readingstag:typepad.com,2003:post-479141582008-04-03T10:33:30-04:002008-04-03T10:33:30-04:00See the attached PDF files for a contact list for UCI: contacts Also, see the following for Tuesday April 8, 2008. Leonard Nathaniel Moore's essay on desegregation in Cleveland is here. Todd Michney's essay on the Hough Riots is here.tristero

See the attached PDF files for a contact list for UCI: contactsAlso, see the following for Tuesday April 8, 2008.Leonard Nathaniel Moore's essay on desegregation in Cleveland is here.Todd Michney's essay on the Hough Riots is here.

Folklife and Fieldwork: A Layman's Introduction to Field Techniques (American Folklife Center, Library of Congress)tag:typepad.com,2003:post-465116002008-03-03T12:10:32-05:002008-03-03T12:10:32-05:00The reading for tomorrow is: Folklife and Fieldwork: A Layman's Introduction to Field Techniques (American Folklife Center, Library of Congress).tristero
<div xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p>The reading for tomorrow is:&nbsp; <a href="http://www.loc.gov/folklife/fieldwork/" title="Folklife and Fieldwork: A Layman's Introduction to Field Techniques (American Folklife Center, Library of Congress)">Folklife and Fieldwork: A Layman's Introduction to Field Techniques (American Folklife Center, Library of Congress)</a>.</p></div>
Who Does Your Brain Want To Vote For?tag:typepad.com,2003:post-457307802008-02-17T09:03:37-05:002008-02-17T09:03:37-05:00Link: Who Does Your Brain Want To Vote For?. Have some fun this weekend and take this test, which the Utne Reader's blog clued me into. Extra points if you can figure out what my profile looked like!tristero